so, president obama is taking action and insisting that republicans agree to increase the existing marginal tax rates on the wealthiest top 2% of u.s. taxpayers. and of course, there is more to the deal. but there will be no negotiations on that big part of the deal unless that tax on the wealthiest 2% is negotiated now. the president could not be more emphatic in stressing the indispensable element of surmounting the cliff is that super-rich revenue. >> we're not insisting on rates just out of spite. or out of any kind of partisan bickering. but rather because we need to raise a certain amount of revenue. >> okay. here is john boehner, the republican house speaker. >> if you look at the plans that the white house have talked about thus far, they couldn't pass either house of the congress. >> republicans proposed raising $800 billion in extra revenues. and that revenue should come through tax reform and closing loopholes. happy new year. question, patrick, looking into the crystal ball and tell us about this january 1 monetary nuclear bomb. are we going over the cliff, patrick? >> i think i